The Importance of White Balance in Digital
Photography
Woodlands Photography ClubJune 2010Don Rueter
White Balance
• Critical to “look” of the photograph
• Instructs camera computer how to interpret colors it sees
• Set based on temperature (degrees Kelvin) of the primary light source
• Incorrect White Balance can cause colors that are too warm (red) or too cool (blue)
White Balance Goal
• Achieve a neutral colorcast in your photo
• Get whites to look white
• Get colors to look like what you saw when you took the photo
White Balance Importance
• JPEG vs. RAW
• When true color rendition is critical– Weddings– Portraits– Product Photos
Setting White Balance
• Before shooting– Auto– Camera Menu choices (e.g., direct sunlight,
cloudy, shade, flash, fluorescent (7 choices), incandescent, set color temp)
– Manual Preset• Gray card photo• Expodisc• Neutral color photo
Adjusting White Balance
• After shooting– JPEG – not directly adjustable– RAW – fully adjustable in most processing
software• Menu choices• Gray card photo• White point/Gray point tools